Defendants in Real Estate Concealment Case Win at Arbitration and Get Partial Recoupment of Attorneys Fees. At a month trial in Orange County Superior Court, two individual clients of Mike Hensley suffered an adverse jury award of about $285,000. The clients sold their prior San Juan Capistrano house to plaintiff buyers, […]
Fourth District, Division 3 Affirms Trial Court’s Finding That Neither Homeowner Nor HOA Prevailed for Purposes of Obtaining a Fee or Cost Award. In a previous post (see May 17, 2008 post), we commented on how homeowner-homeowner association (HOA) disputes can be costly and can be financially devastating to the losing
Second District Unpublished Decision Affirms Trial Judge’s Rejection of Expert Testimony on the Value of Services in Deciding an Attorney’s Fees Motion. Even unpublished decisions can contain instructive lessons for practitioners in opposing requests for attorney’s fees, reminding us all that the trial judge is the one ultimately vested with discretion
Court of Appeal, in Unpublished Opinion, Reverses Trial Court Ruling of Unconscionability. In order to avoid being relegated to quantum meruit recovery, most attorneys obtain client signatures on written attorney fee retainer agreements, which set forth the terms and conditions on which they will provide services to the particular client. Business
Fifth District Unpublished Decision Finds that Supreme Court Authority Allows Arbitrator to be the Arbiter of “Prevailing Party” Status for Fee Recovery Purposes. In Thompson Pacific Construction, Inc. v. Swinerton Builders, Inc., Case No. F053237 (5th Dist. May 20, 2008) (unpublished), the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed an arbitrator’s power
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rita Miller Denies Motion to Strike But Grants Leave to Plead Fee Basis Based Upon Existence of Written Contract. I happened to be at a hearing on a motion to quash based on lack of personal jurisdiction, on May 19, 2008, before Judge Rita Miller,
Second District Confirms That the “Tort of Another” Exception Applies to Third Party Actions, Not Direct Actions Against Joint Tortfeasors. Infac Mgt. Corp. v. Infac India Group LLC,Case No. B195247 (2d Dist., Div. 4, May 19, 2008) (unpublished) reminds us that the “tort of another exception” to the American Fees Rule—the
Gregory P. Regier, a colleague of Mike Hensley when he was at Jackson DeMarco Tidus & Peckenpaugh, and Mike won a case for citrus farming clients in Ventura County who were flooded by their neighboring farmers when the neighbors notched a watercourse on their property, resulting in various property damages
Even Though Losing Opponent Prayed for Fee Recovery in Complaint, Estoppel Theory Did Not Justify Awarding Fees Where Opponent Never Had Entitlement to Recover Fees. The Sixth District Court of Appeal, in Blickman Turkus, LP v. MF Downtown Sunnyvale, LLC, Case No. H029980 (6th Dist. April 30, 2008), published a decision
Fourth District, Division One San Diego Appellate Court Affirms $127,000 Trial Costs/Fee Award Against Losing Homeowner—And Assesses Appellate Costs Against the Homeowner. As Voltaire has been cited as saying, “I have only been ruined twice in my life. Once, when I sued and won. The other, when I sued and lost.”
